The present invention relates to wall lamps, especially exterior wall lamps.
There are various categories of lighting apparatus. One broad division of these apparatus is interior versus exterior lighting. A second broad division concerns the voltage used in such lamps, e.g. lamps which are powered by standard alternating current which in the United States is typically 120 volts AC versus low-voltage or direct-current lighting. The present invention concerns lighting which is powered by standard voltage, alternating current supply
It is known to combine a lighting fixture with an electrical outlet. Thus, Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,969 shows a wall mounted lighting fixture adapted to be placed over a bed, such as in a hospital for example, and includes electrical sockets 17 on a side face thereof. This does not, however, solve the problem of providing a convenient source of lighting on exterior surfaces of edifices such as homes, stores, restaurants and the like.
Humphrey U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,985 discloses a post lamp for outdoor lighting. This is not, however, a permanent fixture and is not a wall fixture nor any other kind of permanently-mounted fixture. Instead, it is portable and requires its own electric wire to extend to a power source. At the top of the pole is a luminaire, and at the base of the pole is an electric socket.
DeKay U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,734 discloses an interior wall lamp assembly having an elongated hollow conduit carrying and concealing electric current-carrying wires connected at the bottom end of the hollow conduit to an AC plug so that the device can be plugged into a wall socket. The device includes adhesives or Velcro fasteners to adhere the elongated member to a vertical wall. A projecting arm extends from the top of the elongated conduit to a lamp socket or the like. DeKay shows an auxiliary electric socket 11 mounted along a side wall of the elongated hollow conduit,
Simon U.S. Pat. No. 3,188,379 illustrates a weatherproof electrical installation with a pivotally-attached hood apparatus. This, however, provides no lighting function and is, by definition, not a wall lamp. An alternative arrangement for protecting electric sockets in outdoor use is Sanner U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,266 which, like Simon, is not a light source but rather an outdoor electric socket fixture having downward facing sockets.
None of these patents, however, provides an exterior wall lamp which also provides a source of protected AC current for other uses. None of these solves the problem of needing access, around the outside of a house or other building, to standard AC power without adding extra, separate fixtures dedicated thereto.
An object of the present invention is to increase the utility of an exterior wall lamp fixture to provide a source of AC power for other applications and, preferably, while preserving esthetic features of the fixture.